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SWEDEN 2 ENGLAND 3

21.56 Phew. It's never easy, is it? In this case, though, the horror came at the right point in the game. England had time to claw themselves back into the game. It seemed a distant and decidedly impossible dream after Mellberg's second. The script of doom is filled with words like implosion, embarrassment, and "offside from a corner". Instead Hodgson threw on Walcott and in a rare outbreak of an English player demonstrating excellent technique England had a surprise equaliser. The third goal was sublime. Fortunate, for sure, but Welbeck's finish was pure cheek. England have scored two of the best three goals of the tournament and sent a largely poor Sweden side home, despite their resolute performance at half time. That did not seem likely with half an hour left to play. Well done England. Well done Roy Hodgson. Oh, go on then:

Thanks for your company, I'll talk to you again soon.

FULL TIMESweden 2 England 3

90+4 min Good ball in from the left for Sweden. Olsson's there... Heads wide. Zlatan does a resigned laconic stretch. I think he knows the game is up.

90+3 min We're into the last minute of time added on.

90+2 min That's an another unbelievable save from Isaksson. England break. Three on two. Walcott does all he needs to, bringing it forward at speed on the right. The Ox and Gerrard in the middle. He hangs it up for the latter who volleys... but Isaksson saves!

90+1 min England have a free kick 30 yards out. Gerrard shoots. MADNESS. Keep the ball! England players should have that tattooed on their forearms instead of getting a symbolic cap after their first call-up. Better late than ever, it's Soren Assmann with his brand of somewhat indecipherable excitement:

Wow. Most beautiful goal of the EC. I say, you really can play football. Must be why you became second in the U21 European Championship where Germany with Özil became first. However...a game England vs. Sweden has not ended in an English victory. Ever. So, let's see if it goes rewarded.

90 min Welbeck's coming off for England, it's the man with the very long name on for him. Oxlade-Chamberlain is on. Let's hope he swaps shirts with Elm. Another replay of Welbeck's goal. If England can hold onto this he is going to have a very hearty and delighted chuckle at it later.

89 min Sweden the team guilty of hoofing now. Olsson with a directionless ball into the outside left channel. There's no-one in yellow there.

88 min Sweden have a corner. The Ox, by the way, is still ready to come on. Hart punches the corner away. Goes abour 40 yards from goal, but England don't have anyone that far. Still, good pressure from England who force a pass all the way back to Isaksson.

87 min Larsson with another excellent cross from a deep free kick. It's from the right this time. England have their men covered, but can only clear for a throw for Sweden. Here's Welbeck's goal:

86 min Promising-looking ball from the now deep-lying Zlatan, targeting Larsson on the right flank. Cut out by Lescott. England have composed themselves at the back. Sweden, as you'd expect, are looking a lot less composed than they were. How's that, fate? Tempting you enough, am I?

85 min Cole is tripped by Svensson in the middle. That's fine. We love a needless foul in this situation. Here's Steve "Silk" Curley:

Engerlund threw away the chance of losing this. Looks like we're going to have to settle for a victory now.

82 min The perma-scared Elm is off for Wilhemssson. Carroll heads a cross clear and England can break... Walcott on the ball, and gets his pass to Welbeck ever-so-slightly wrong. This derails the move. Gerrard is able to play it forward for Welbeck, but he's forced to play it backwards... Gerrard with a snap shot. Over.

81 min England please, please, just hold onto the ball and pretend you're Italy or something for the next 10 minutes. Sweden have been far improved this half and every attack, especially down the flanks, looks fairly likely to result in a goal. England must reduce their possession as far as is possible for the closing stages.

78 min GOAL!! Sweden 2 England 3 (Welbeck) Theo Walcott might not be much use for England normally, but when he's good, as he has been tonight and as he was against Croatia, he is very, very good. The Arsenal forward picks it up outside the box and darts towards the byline through the inside-right channel. He's past everyone at speed, and squares deliciously for Welbeck in the middle. Welbeck's got his back to goal but with a divine moment of improvisation, twists and backheels the ball towards goal. In truth, it could have gone anywhere, but it's into the bottom corner. That'll do nicely.

77 min Hart makes his best save of the game! Zlatan given too much space and hits a confusing shot, which is, in commentator parlance "moving all over the place". Aren't all shots moving? Never mind... It's destined for the top corner but Hart chucks himself right and turns it round the post for a corner, which England deal with competently.

75 min Olsson does excellently on the left, beating Johnson and threatening to take Lescott with him. Tees up Kallstrom who's arriving into the area at the correct time, like a Swedish train (I assume). Blasts his shot just wide. Hart had no chance there. Here's Walcott celebrating his golazzo:

74 min Young takes it. Too high. Eurgh.

73 min England have a free kick fairly central and 25 yards out for Kallstrom nicking at Young's heels. Jonathan Liew has a plan:

71 min Hart gamely tries to pretend he's kept a ball in that was over the byliune. He's thwarted by the first ever instance of the official behind the goal doing anything. It's a Sweden corner. Hart claims it, Olsson gets in the way of his attempted clearance and his booked for his efforts.

70 min Caroll tries his luck now from Walcott distance. It's an easier chance, with less players around him and time to size up the shot after he took it forward. It's not great. High and wide. Here's calm head Donncha Ó Conmhuí:

With all this excitement, people have overlooked the fact that Oxlade-Chamberlain -v- Elm is the head-to-head positional matchup with the greatest disparity in name length that we're likely to see in this tournament.

68 min Selfish play from Zlatan, who'd have thunk it? Makes room for himself in the middle with a show of strength, but opts to take on Parker when he's got plenty of support around him. Parker makes the sliding challenge.

67 min This is obviously no good to you if you're also watching the BBC's coverage, but it bears repeating for those who aren't: That's Theo Walcott fourth international goal, but only the second international game he's scored in. A stat to match the excitement of the goal, I'm sure you'll agree.

64 min GOAL!! Sweden 2 England 2 (Walcott) Bosh. BOSH! That's out of nowhere from Walcott, both in the context of this game and what we know about him as a player. The England corner is headed clear by Olsson and Walcott sizes up a shot from 25 yards. The entire Sweden team race towards him. He leathers it, fairly central, but it's dipping and totally deceives Isaksson and it's in the back of the net! Superb goal.

63 min WHAT A SAVE! Isaksson! Maginicifent! Cross from Johnson, Terry nods it into the ground and it looks for all of the world, sorry, Europe, an equaliser, but the keeper somehow tips it over his bar. England corner.

62 min Gerrard's corner isn't quite right for Carroll. Drops for Johnson on the edge of the box whose ambitious shot is blocked, and Sweden can break. It's Zlatan that takes it into the box, but there's Johnson again with a superb saving tackle. His side are reeling and rocking, and not in that fun rock n roll way.

61 min On the upside, I suppose we're DEFINITELY going to learn a lot more about Hodgson's England now that we're behind. Milner's coming off for Walcott. England have a corner.

58 min Elmander tackled easily by Lescott on the right-hand flank, but England are resorting to bad, bad habits now... Hoof! Comfortably cleared by Swedden. Milner is booked for clipping Olsson's heels as he ran with purpose from the left-hand side. Wise words:

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Pie Museum - This is a game now. I don't know what it was before, a brick or a cloud or something. But now it's a game.&lt;/noframe&gt;

56 min Parker picks out Johnson on the right in lots of space. Disappointing cross. Reaches Carroll anyway, but his header is also poor and Isaksson claims. Sweden break... Eeek, Elm's in behind and close to latching onto an unclaimed ball, but Johnson's there with an excellent recovering tackle

54 min England on the ball but lacking any composure now. We're in one of those murky phases in which the momentum's there to be siezed for either team. Neither looks good enough to do at the moment. Lots of misplaced passes, lots of hopeful balls forward to no-one.

51 min We shall know a lot more about Hodgson's England after this game. This is the first time they've been pegged back against a side they've been expected to beat. Can they regain the initiative? The Sweden-heavy crowd is making it seem challenging. A lorra lorra noise, and it's not for England. Least of all Lescott, who puts an aimless ball into a black hole behind Granqvist which is easily dealt with by the Swedish full-back.

49 min GOAL!! Sweden 1 England 1 (Johnson OG) Ibrahimovic takes it, straight into the wall. Ibra then volleys it beautifully diagonally and it falls right at Mellberg's feet. Shoots, Hart saves, but it hits Johnson's stomach and heads towards goal. Johnson hurries after it and gets a foot on it, but can only put it onto his own post and in.

48 min Sweden putting England under pressure. Granqvist crosses from the left. Headed clear by Terry. Carroll hacks down Kallstrom 30 yards from goal. Free kick, dead centre. A crucial update of the scene in the proud nation of maple syrup and people saying "about" funny from Richard Mulley:

Not much atmosphere in a pub in central Ontario, Canada. Still, we cheered for carrol which I never thought I'd ever do. Barring any England mishaps we should go on and win this.

46 min We have second half. England's supporters sing God Save The Queen. Do any nations' fans sing their own national anthem more?

20.47 England are not without their charm. They've had spells of keeping possession with the patience that's required at this level and Milner and Cole especially are doing good work on the flanks. Not entirely convinced by Welbeck but he's been feeding off scraps. Young has also been quiet. Sweden are beginning to look threatening and you feel they're likely to score at some point. Certainly for as long as it remains 1-0. See you in 15.

HALF TIMESweden 0 England 1

45+1 min Disappointing delivery from Gerrard, Carroll's on the end of it, but he's off balance and too deep to direct it anywhere useful. This shall be the sole minute of added time.

45 min Ashley Young wins a corner on the right. Lescott and Terry coming up.

44 min Welbeck sent clear of the midfield with lots of room to run into... Sweden with plenty back, but it's a decent break for England. Welbeck is cleanly tackled by Mellberg as he enters the box.

43 min Milner in the thick of it again, mopping up after Carroll was targeted with a high ball into the box, then getting the ball back on the right and crossing for Carroll. Too much on it, though, out for a goal kick. Excellent update from Henry Winter:

Bit strange this. Playing 4-4-2, good shape, clear lines of defenders and midfielders, an out and out striker and good wide men. This is the most English England team for a generation. Think Bobby Robson was the last manager to play this way.

40 min Sweden threatening as the half edges towards extinction. Kallstrom had a fizzing shot from outside the box that ended up over the bar. Soon afterwards he tried a backheel from close to the byline, looking for Ibrahimovic, which Parker cut out.

38 min Following Keith Andrews being bundled to the ground by a ref last night, Andy Carroll re-establishes the player v official order of correctness by smacking a ball right into Damir Skomina's, erm... groin? Revenge!

36 min Eek, Ashley Young. Cole puts him in with nifty a disagonal ball from the left flank and he's into the Sweden box in a flash. Mellberg standing up to him, but Young rushes it, shoots towards Isaksson's near post and... it's wide. Carroll and Welbeck were in support in the middle. Cheery email from Andy Price:

Boring draw tonight, lose to Ukraine. Lots of criticism of Roy. Two years of overblown expectations, disappointing World Cup qualifying, narrowly missing out. Unknown Latvian schoolteacher appointed next England Coach with medium who claims to be guided by late-lamented Bobby Robson appointed as Director of spherical percussion studies. England lose successive friendlies to Thailand and Malawi before resigning from Fifa and going back to their pre-war bunker muttering about how different it was in their day.

35 min Crucial tackle from Terry just inside Sweden's half, as Zlatan looked to get past him and in behind England's termporarily high line. Zlatan's come off worse. Terry, says Mark Lawrenson, is "a warriow". Not the first thing I'd call him....

33 min That's a troubling moment for England. Parker gives it away for no reason in Sweden's half. Mellberg finds Zlatan who trots forward with three team-mates for support. Four on four. Parker throws himself at the ball in an attempt to make up for his error with good old-fashioned English bravery/stupidity, Zlatan shrugs past him. He shoots, it deflects off Milner, but Hart watches it all the way into his hands. Hart's been impeccable so far, and dealt with a few shots that briefly had you thinking "oh no, something horrible is about to happen".

30 min Elm is wearing face that's part nauseous part blind panic... Charges forward from the left and plays a ball towards Zlatan which is too heavy. The striker sticks a foot out it with such a lack of effort that it's almost sarcastic, and England get it under control. Paul Hayward likes what he sees from England's number nine:

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Paul Hayward - Slow mo showed how expertly Carroll arranged his body for that header and the venom in the finish. His movement has been good too.&lt;/noframe&gt;

27 min Another good spell for England, Milner popping up in a promising position again. This time he's in the box on the right but can't quite find a final ball. You feel England could get out of sight here, or at least win comfortably, if they can score again before half time. I hope Tony McConnell was out in time to see Carroll's goal, it was an extremely satisfying one to watch:

From my POV, England's campaign will be viewed in the same way as I watched Dr. Who as a kid: hiding behind a chair and peeking out at the TV when feeling brave enough.Good luck to 'em!

25 min That was somewhat against the run of play, England were beginning to have a few hairy moments at the back... and there's another, Elm getting to the byline and Terry improvises a dangerous clearance which comes close to falling at Elmander's feet. It's cleared, but Sweden are still on the ball.

23 min GOAL!! Sweden 0 England 1 (Carroll) I never doubted you England. I never doubted you Andy. What an excellent goal! Gerrard produces a Hollywood pass that actually works, from deep on the right... marvellous cross, Carroll's on the end of it with a head-based bullet and it's past Isaksson and directly into the onion-containg bag. England are in business. The business of goals.

23 min Ashley Cole tries a ridiculous shot several nautical miles from goal. It's out of play. For a throw. IN-GER-LAND, IN-GER-LAND, IN-GER-LAND!

22 min That's not so encouraging for England. Zlatan and Terry chase after a loose ball, and Terry is doing everything he can to make it their first but struggling all the way. Zlatan holds him off with ease, and Terry's on the floor for a moment, but the Swede gives it away cheaply and England get it away.

20 min Zlatan coming into the game a bit more now. Receives the ball on the left, finds Elm on the flank and gets the ball back swiftly. I think that's in the Swedish FA's constituion: "Get it to Zlatan quickly, for the love of god...". He weighs up his options, decides he doesn't really rate any of his team-mates and tries a shot from 20 yards. Low and hard, but saved by Hart down to his right.

19 min Ibrahmiovic wins it off Parker in Sweden's half... He's not got the pace to do much with it on his own, and there are no Sweden players ahead of him in passable positions. He turns away from England's defence and in doing so three midfielders assemble between him and goal and the moment has passed.

17 min More patient possession for England but the front three of Carroll, Young and Welbeck are unforgivably static ahead of Cole on the left and Granqvist is able to tackle the Chelsea left back. Sweden break, Zlatan's ominously waiting for a ball in the middle, but Lescott gets it back to Hart in a hurry.

16 min It's a tight game so far but England have certainly had the better of it. Here's Milner on the right again, we're seeing an awful lot of him. Digs out a promising cross, Welbeck's on the end of it with a glancing header but he gets his angles wrong and it's wide. Encouraging, all the same.

14 min England's kit tonight, yay or no way?

Paul Hayward says "no way":

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Paul Hayward - It was &lt;a href="http://www.twitter.com/rwilliams1947" target="_blank"&gt;@rwilliams1947&lt;/a&gt; who pointed out that England look like a combined Oxford and Cambridge XI in this kit. Bring back red.&lt;/noframe&gt;

12 min Larsson with Sweden's first shot on target. Struck firmly from outside the box on the right, but straight at Hart.

11 min Carroll turns Mellberg promisingly just inside the Sweden half and the Swede hauls him down. Carroll soon fouls Mellberg contesting a high ball. 3-1 to Andy in the fouling stakes.

10 min That's more like the England I know. The game is shaped for another spell of patient possession. Instead Gerrard and Welbeck are in too much of a hurry to play a tight one-two that never looks likely to work, and the ball is duly back in Sweden's care.

8 min Excellent save from Isakkson! Parker shoots spectacularly from the edge of the area on the right and the ball fairly zips off his foot. The keeper's at full stretch to palm it away from goal.

7 min This is pleasing stuff from England, as they enjoy their first spell of sustained possession. Milner breaks on the right and finds Cole in space on the left. The space is quickly erradicated, so Cole plays it calmly back towards Welbeck in the middle. England are forced back but keep the ball, and eventually win a free kick.

6 min Henry Winter is in Kiev for us this evening:

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Henry Winter - &lt;a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=eng" target="_blank"&gt;#eng&lt;/a&gt; band now making up for lost time. Unbanned and unplugged. Very loud. Swedes responding. Crackling atmosphere &lt;a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=notlong" target="_blank"&gt;#notlong&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/noframe&gt;

3 min Good defending from England. Hart bravely / frighteningly came charging out to his left-hand side of the pitch to head a ball destined to go over the byline out for a throw instead. From it, Cole stood up against Larsson as he attempted to trick him, forced him into a backwards pass to Svensson, and he puts it out of play with an overhit return pass to Larsson.

2 min Another Carroll foul, pushing Svennson over as he excitedly attempted to get his first touch for England at a major tournament.

1 min Carroll is penalised for crashing into Granqvist's back. 44 seconds it took for him to commit a foul. Marvellous.

1 min Here we go then, Sweden kick off. FOOTBALL!

19.59 This from Legsidelizzy, who has a direct link to the mind of Zlatan Ibrahimovic:

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Lizzy - I am Zlatan. I don't sing the National Anthem. It sings me&lt;/noframe&gt;

19.58 That's the Sweden anthem dealt with. Steven Gerrard leads his team on the handshake festival. Some excellent handshakes in there. Never underestimate the Swedes' ability to shake your hand proficiently.

19.57 Some impressive things happening with what looks like blue and yellow bin bags:

19.56 A sea of Sweden fans in the stands, they outnumber England's significantly tonight. The anthem begins. They go for the traditional arrangement rather than Johnny Rotten's. It is booed.

19.54 The teams are in the tunnel.

19.53 Just in case you were feeling optimistic, I shall show you the video that the BBC showed me before it pressed play on a ludicrously adrenalised montage. Danny Welbeck! Flashing! A man with a deep voice! I am not inspired. Here's the pallate-cleanser:

19.52 Sam Graham has a riposte for Andrew Flynn:

Yeah; but countering that, Kelly's & Ox's mams won't let them play out after dark.

19.50 Are we all in agreement that someone in Salford has "had a word" with Alan Shearer? He's been engaged, energetic and occasionaly somewhat perceptive as a pundit at times this tournament. Much better. Well done to all concerned.

19.48 The Ukraine match is over, France go top of the group with a 2-0 win.

19.47 Here is the theatre of conflict for this evening's game, Kiev's Olympic Stadium. It is looking good:

19.45 Top emailing from Andrew Flynn:

Kick off pushed back to 10pm local time. Fancy Carroll to score now as he loves a late night, allegedly. (coat, hat, taxi)

19.30 The first pertinent statistical tweet of the evening, from our friends at Opta, and hooray for everything, it's good news!

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Opta Sports - 2 - Sweden have won just two of their last 12 games at European Championship finals. Struggle.&lt;/noframe&gt;

19.25 Here's your friend and mine Andy Holgate:

If ITV have their way they will pan out from the centre spot in Kiev, getting wider and wider until the whole of the Ukraine and Poland can be seen. This will be overlaid with images of English greats doing there stuff and classic commentary. The music will be something Brit pop with banging drums, thrashing guitars and uplifting anthem-like lyrics. At the end will be Rooney holding the trophy aloft with the rest of the team in the maelstrom of tickertape and balloons. England victorious. The only spoiler will be Adrian Childs chuntering away in his Black Country drawl. In reality, in a few days time it will be the team queueing for the Nationalski Expresski from Warsaw to London.

19.20 Charming-looking bunch we take to international tournaments, isn't it?

What on earth is Scott Parker (in the red) doing out on the lash? Shouldn't he be jogging around some cones?

I think we’ll walk it, we have a great team. Thing is we need to play a few sounds to our lads in the dressing room – gee them up, so to speak. What about “One Nation Under A Groove” ? (Funkadelic) Beats God Save the Queen as a preamble! I’ll leave the tactics to Sir Roy – nice guy – calm in the face of any storm.

No complaints from me, Kim. Although I think Leighton Baines is more a fan of George Clinton's solo work.

19.09 2-0 to France, Cabaye extends their lead.

19.06 France have scored against Ukraine, Menez with the goal. I suppose that puts a little more pressure on England...

18.55 So what of Sweden, England's well-dressed opponents this evening? They were one of the most disappointing teams of the tournament for my money in their opening game against Ukraine. Vulnerable out wide and beaten by a team that are below Panama in the Fifa World Rankings (saying that England are above Argentina, Italy and France so pffffffffff....). They should be made of sterner stuff this evening with Svensson restored to the side in the middle, but they'll need more from Seb Larsson tonight. Usually so excellent at set pieces for Sunderland, his deliveries were distinctly average on Monday.

18.50 Looks like there's been some pre-game aggro between fans. Wonderful. It's being referred to as a "brief collision", thankfully.

18.40 Swedish tabloid Expressen has proved that two can play at the inappropriate projection game, putting Zlatan Ibrahimovic's massive face onto the Clock Tower (that's Big Ben, unless you're a pedant) last night:

18.35 Henry Winter has tweeted what looks an awful lot like the England team:

18.34 Sweden and England fans are gearing beering up for tonight's game:

18.30 Here's intrepid emailer Sam Graham:

That's the phrase I was looking for Thom, "Down the pan"! I suspect that young Mr Hodgson knows that it is not about this tournament - his best chance is to blood the youngsters (with help from the few world-class players available to him) so that they can at least make the semis in two years time.

18.25 Kick off has been delayed. We'll now be starting at 8pm

18.15 Our own Alan Hansen says tonight is Ashley Young's time to shine:

Ashley Young was poor against France when he played just off striker Danny Welbeck, so the England winger will be much more at ease if Roy Hodgson deploys Andy Carroll alongside Welbeck against Sweden on Friday night. Young has pace and trickery, is good with both feet and is a great crosser of the ball, so, like any winger, he would relish the opportunity to provide opportunities for two forwards who have proved themselves so capable in the air.... this is a key game for Ashley because he will know that, regardless of how well he plays against Sweden, Rooney will be restored to the team in the position just behind the striker.

17.46 France v Ukraine, which should be approaching half time right about now, will be restarting at six due to all of that beastly rain and sky electricity. This means we'll be experiencing matches co-currently a whole ONE DAY earlier than scheduled! This tournament truly has everything.

17.30 Good evening liveblog fans.

Do you remember a couple of weeks ago? You should do, really, it wasn't long ago. Those were the dark times.

England were a shambles. 17 injured defenders, a hastily-appointed manager whose initials were not, and have refused to become "HR" and heading for a disaster at Euro 2012not seen since most of the other times we've qualified for this competition.

The lack of expectation became so pronounced, so acknowledged, that a void developed in place of the usual car flags, plastic hats and face paint.

But football abhors a vacuum, and once the non-entity of anti-momentum and the startling lack of Three Lions reached tipping point the public mood around England took a dangerous turn.

We have entered a phase of cautious optimism.

There are reasons to be cheerful. England are clearly not the worst team at this tournament (hi, Ireland). England performed unspectacularly but sensibly to earn a 1-1 draw in what should be their toughest group game. England, if you squint at them a bit, look a bit like the sort of team that could unexpectedly defend and battle their way to a surprise triumph.

The circle is complete. We are beginning to hope again. We can probably win it.

We're all doomed.

...Oh, go on then:

Team news and puppet chefs to follow, here is some frankly unmissable stuff from our site on the subject of this match that's about to happen: